Roller positioning apparatus for coating machines



Dec. 1, 1959 F. WALLENBERG 2,915,033

ROLLER POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR comma MACHINES Filed June 27, 1957 I a Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR FRITZ WALLE ERG ATTORNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. WALLENBERG ROLLER POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR COATING MACHINES Filed June 27, 1957 M OE om fi r mm 0 n J I. 0 mm. a mm $3 1i NY a? A B W \I "AG 9 Dec. 1, 1959 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS I Dec. 1, 1959 F. WALLENBERG ROLLER POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR COATING MACHINES Filed June 27, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS ROLLER POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR COATING MACHINES Fritz Wallenberg, Binghamton,

eral Aniline & Film Corporation, corporation of Delaware Application June 27, 1957, Serial No. 668,523 4 Claims. (Cl. 118-249) N.Y., assignor to Gen- New York, N.Y., a

This invention pertains to coating apparatus and, particularly, to machines used for coating a thin layer of viscous material, such as aphoto-graphic emulsion, onto a web which may be film or paper.

There are various types of coating procedures and this invention is directed in particular to the type known as bead coating. Characteristic of this type of coating technique is the use of an applicator roller which is partially tween the two rolls.

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2 coating pan and the applicator roller are mounted was generally lifted by a jack screw arrangement which, in one direction of rotation, would lift the table and, in the reverse rotation, lower it to any distance which the operator considered necessary. The coating position had to be measured or read by a dial indicating the distance be- This has the disadvantage that the operation of forming the bead is too slow for a high speed coating machine and lacks uniformity, causing waste of the web material whenever 2. splice has to be made at the coating station.

It is important that the coating thickness remains constant at all times. With individual jack screws and lifting devices, it is difficult to maintain the above prerequisite due to differences'which inherently will be found between two .or more jack screws.

Referring to the Figures, the arrangement in accordance with the invention contemplates the use of a platform. 6

immersed in a pan containing the coating solution. The

coating roller carrying the film or paper and the applicator roller are disposed in axially parallel relationship and adapted to rotate in close proximity, maintaining between them a body of the coating substance inthe form of a bead.

i It is the primary object of this invention to provide, in :a coating machine, a roller positioning apparatus for initiating, forming, and maintaining a head during coating operation. I

.A particular feature of this invention is that the apparatus for the attainment of "the above object is simple in construction and requires but one cycle ofopera'tion in the'form of a complete rotation of aliandwhe'el. Another feature of this invention is that individual adjustments are provided for setting both the coating distance and'the wetting position between "the web carrying roller and the applicator rollen;

Other objectsjand features w ll be apparent from the seen in Fig. 5.

following description "Of the invention, pointed out in nection with thej 'accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveQsimpIified view of the roller positioning apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the operating .Fig. 3 is a sectional view of Fig. 2, taken along line Fig. 4 is a front elevationaliview of a portion of'the apparatus showing one of theadjustmentsand vFig. 5 is a sectional view of Fig. 4, "taken along line In coating apparatus 'of' the type where an applicator rolleris used, it is essential that in forming'a' bead of the coating solution the following operations formed in rapid succession. r l

('1) The applicator roller together with the coating pan mustbelowered to breakthe existing head.

(2) The applicator roller must then be raised .to a

wetting position, i.e., where the applicator roller actually "touches the web carried by the coating roller.

. the judgmentof the operator. Thetable-on which the particularity .in the appended claims and taken in 'coni are at a critical distance from each other. start and maintain the head, it. is necessary to raise the upon whichrrests the pan 7' containing the coating solution. Within the pan, .and partially immersed in the coating solution, is the applicator roller 9 having a shaft 10 extending from the pan 7 and supported in suitable bearings 11 and 12. The roller 9 is driven by a suitable motor 14. The platform 6 rests on brackets 15 which have a pivot shaft 16 suitably journalled in the frame 18, .as

Above the applicator roller 9 is the coating roller 20 held in the machine frame 21 and journa-lled in suitable bearings to bedriven -by the motor 22. The web 23 to be coated with the solution in :the pan 7 travels around the roller 20.

The particular drive or support of the roller 20 is not of material interest in connection with the present invention, and is shown merely by Way of example. Coating machines of this type generally employ a plurality of rollers over which the web 23 travels until it reaches a coating roller located above. the applicator roller 9.

It was pointed out before that in the-coating operation itis necessary to form a bead betweenthe two rollers 9 and 20, the bead consisting of the coating substance which is suspended between'the two rollers when they In order to platform 6; so that the rollers 9 engage the web 23 and then separate the rollers 9 and 20 a critical distance from each other for the solution to remain between the two rollers in the-form of a head. ,It is also necessary to break this bead 'when coating operation is stopped for any reason as, for example, when a splice has tobe made of the web passing over the coating roller 20.

Roller-positioning is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by the apparatus placed underneath the platform 6 and consists of a camfollower 25, the

offset shaft 26 of which is journalled in bearings pro- "vided in the supports 27 and 28 extending downwardly from the platform 6. The cam follower 25 may thus be lowered or raised by thegear 29 cooperating with worm 36 having a manually operable handle 31. Underneath the cam follower 25 is the cam 32 secured to va shaft 33 which is suitably mounted in bearings 34 and 35 (Fig.

4) attached to the frame 18. The end of the shaft 33 carries a hand crank 37 having a retractable stop pin 30 which cooperates with a slot 39 in a disc 40.

a The construction of the crank 37 and associated mechanism can better be seen in Figs. "2 and 3 to which reference should be had. The frame, indicated by reference numeral 18, denotes any stationary part of the machine assembly. The disc 40 is secured to a sleeve '41 which rotates over a hub 42 secured to the frame 18.

The sleeve 41 may be displaced aroundthe shaft 33, 'but independently therefrom, by means of the gear 44 actuated by the worm 45 rotated by means :of the handle 46.

The crank 37 has a retractable pin 30 which is biased against outward movement by a spring 48 so that it is urged into the slot 39 of the disc40.

The pin 30 has a handle portion 50 carrying rollers 51 and 51' which ride over the sloping front of the bushing 52 so that rotation of handle portion 50 constrains the pin 30 outwardly as the rollers 51 and 51' ride over the surface of the bushing 52.

A second retractable pin 54 is provided in the crank body cooperating with a button 55, the face of which has a depression to accommodate the rounded end of the pin 54. The latter is also biased by a spring 56. The purpose of the second pin 54 is to insure a certain amount of hold on the crank 37 when the pin 30 is retracted. Without this hold, the weight of the platform 6 on the cam 32 may be sufficient to turn the shaft 33 and thereby disrupt normal operation.

This will be further explained in connection with the description of the operation of the roll positioning apparatus.

Extending toward the crank 37 and attached to the frame 18 is a trip button 58 which is so proportioned as to engage the handle portion 50 of the pin 39 upon rotation of the crank 37 over a certain arcuate distance.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the views illustrate the bracket 15 in the frame 18 and the adjusting mechanism for the cam follower 25, as well as the bearings 34 and 35 of the shaft 33 also being supported by the frame 18.

Referring to the operation, the position of the crank 37 shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 represents the normal coating position. The cam 32 is so displaced that the platform 6, resting thereon by virtue of the cam follower 25, is lowered to position the rollers 9 and 20 at a critical distance at which a bead of the coating solution is formed therebetween. The crank 37, and thereby the shaft 33, are locked since the pin 30 engages the slot 39.

When it is desired to recycle the position of the rollers, namely, to perform the operations of 1) separating so as to break the bead; (2) contacting the two rollers; and (3) thereafter positioning them a critical distance apart to form a bead, all the operator needs to do is to turn the crank 37 one complete revolution. To do so, the pin 30 is retracted by turning the handle portion 50 to the right sufiiciently for the rollers 51 and 51' to ride over the face of the bushing 52. Although the pin 30 is now retracted, the shaft 33 is held by the engagement of pin 54 over the depression in the disc 55. This is sufficient to prevent displacement of the-shaft 33 the instant the pin 30 is retracted by virtue of the weight of platform 6 resting on the cam 32, but insufiicient to hold the hand crank 37 against manual operation.

As seen in dotted outline in Fig. 2, a 90 turn will cause the handle portion 50 to abut against the trip button 58 whereby the pin 30 is reset into its original position and will readily engage the slot 39 upon complete revolution of the shaft 33. During this movement, the pin 30 will ride over the surface of the disc 40 until the crank 37 is again in position for the pin 30 to engage slot 39 and thereby lock the crank 37 and the shaft 33 against further movement.

A complete revolution of the shaft 33, as can be seen in Fig. 1, will move the cam 32 first to lower the platform 6 and then gradually raise it to a position where the roller 9 engages the web 23 and, upon further turning, the cam 32 again reaches the position shown in Fig. l. The roller 9 is now lowered to a critical distance to allow a bead to form between the web 23 and the applicator roller 9.

The cam follower 25 may be positioned for the purpose of adjustments by turn ng the worm 36 and thereby the offset shaft 26. This is utilized for adjusting the extent of engagement of the rollers when the cam 32 is at maximum displacement.

The second adjustment, by means of the handle 46 and worm 45, displaces the disc 40 around the shaft 33. The

of the roller positioning apparatus, one complete revolution of the hand crank 37, without any attention from the operator, will effect the cycling of the roller 9 into various positions, the hand crank 37 being automatically v locked every time it is turned around.

I claim:

1. In a web coating machine of the type employing a web carrying roller and an applicator roller rotating in a pan of coating solution, said rollers being disposed in axially parallel relationship and adapted to rotate in a close proximity when in coating position, maintaining therebetween a body of the coating substance in the form of a bead and adapted to engage in a wetting position to form said head, the improvement comprising apparatus for initiating the forming and maintaining of said bead comprising a platform upon which said pan and said applicator roller are mounted, a frame, means for movably supporting said platform in said frame, means for lifting and lowering said platform in one cycle of operation including a cam and a cam follower disposed to engage said cam, the relative positions of said cam and cam follower determining the wetting and coating positions of said rollers and manually operable rotary means for displacing said cam and cam follower into relative positions effecting said wetting and coating positions upon one complete revolution of said rotary means,

said rotary means comprising a shaft upon which said cam is mounted, a crank attached directly to said shaft for rotating thesame and means for locking the crank and shaft against rotation when the rollers are in coating position.

2. A web coating machine as recited in claim 1 including means for adjusting the position of the locking means relative to the shaft to predetermine the coating position of said rollers.

3. In a web coating machine of the type employing a web carrying roller and an applicator roller rotating in a pan of coating solution, said rollers being disposed in axially parallel relationship and adapted to rotate in close proximity when in coating position, maintaining therebetween a body of the coating substance in the form of a bead and adapted to engage in a wetting position to form said bead, the improvement comprising apparatus for initiating the forming and maintaining of said bead comprising a platform upon which said pan and said applicator roller are mounted, a frame, pivot means for swingably supporting said platform in said frame, means for lifting and lowering said platform in one cycle of operation including a shaft rotatably journalled in said frame, a cam secured to said shaft and a cam follower attached to said platform and disposed to engage said cam, the relative positions of said cam and cam follower determining the wetting and coating positions of said rollers, a crank directly attached to said shaft for rotating said shaft, thereby displacing said cam and cam follower into relative positions effecting said wetting and coating positions upon one complete revolution of said shaft, means for locking said cam and shaft in the coating position of the rollers and adjusting means for individually displacing said locking means with respect to the rest position of said crank and said cam follower with respect to said platform thereby adjusting the critical distance of said rollers in wetting and'in coating positions, respectively.

4. In a web coating machine of the type employing a web carrying roller and an applicator roller rotating in apan of coating solution, said rollers being disposed in axially parallel relationship and adapted to rotate in close proximity when in coating position, maintaining therebetween a body of the coating substance in the form of a bead and adapted to engage in a wetting position to form said bead, apparatus for initiating the forming and maintaining of said head comprising a platform upon which said pan and said applicator roller are mounted, a frame, pivot means for swingably supporting said platform in said frame, means for lifting and lowering said platform in one cycle of operation including a shaft rotatably journalled in said frame, a cam secured to said shaft and a cam follower attached to said platform and disposed to engage said cam, the relative positions of said cam and cam follower determining the wetting and coating positions of said rollers and a crank for rotating said shaft, thereby displacing said cam and cam follower into relative positions sequentially efiecting said wetting and coating positions upon one complete revolution of said 15 2,775,954

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,253,060 Clear-man Aug. 19, 1941 2,589,966 Rullo Mar. 18, 1952 2,681,294 Beguin June 15, 1954 White et a1 Jan. 1, 1957 

